National hockey team enters third Asiad final stress-free

KUALA LUMPUR: The national men's team hopes to be third-time lucky in winning the Asian Games hockey title and qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Ranked 14th in the world, Malaysia will face defending champions and world No. 8 India in the final on Saturday.

Malaysia last defeated India in the semi-finals of the Asian Games in Indonesia when coach Stephen van Huizen's side won 7-6 in a penalty shootout after both teams were tied 2-2.

On paper, India are overwhelming favourites to win their fifth Asian Games title and qualify for the Olympics.

Malaysia have qualified for the final twice before, in Guangzhou in 2010 and Indonesia in 2018, and on both occasions they lost to Pakistan and Japan respectively in the finals.

Malaysia has never qualified for the Olympics since Sydney in 2000.

National coach Brendon Carolan has faith in his players, saying nothing is impossible to achieve in the final.

In the last meeting at the Sultan Azlan Shah last November, India edged Malaysia 4-3, so the pressure will be on India to defend the title.

"India are favourites going into the final. They are a really good team and have played in the FIH Pro League and had good results.

"India have shown that they are the top team in Asia after defeating Pakistan (4-3) in the semi-finals (on Thursday).

"We are stress-free going into the final. Our goal is to win the tournament and there is no pressure on us.

"We need to be tactically ready for the final and play to our best," said South African coach Carolan, who was hired in April.

Carolan has met the target set by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) to guide Speedy Tigers to the final.